Kevin Kelly has been a staple in NJPW for years, but his time in the company is coming to a close.
Back in September, Kevin Kelly announced on social media that he would be wrapping up his time in NJPW after calling Destruction at Ryogoku and Wrestle Kingdom 18. In early October, Walker Stewart revealed that he would be stepping in as lead NJPW commentator at the young age of 21.
Speaking on a recent episode of AEW Unrestricted, Kevin Kelly opened up about his decision to leave NJPW and focus on his duties as lead announcer for AEW Collision. According to the man himself, he decided to make the change
“Because my wife said, ‘I don’t want to be alone anymore.’ I’m not lying. We’ve been together 33 years, married 30. I told her, when the time is right, you tell me and I will stop going to Japan because I’ve been gone weeks at a time, months at a time. Come home briefly, go back weeks at a time. We’ve all missed birthdays and family vacations and those types of things, but when you’re missing Christmas and you’re missing New Years and you’re missing anniversaries and you’re missing everything, it just gets to be too much.”
Kevin Kelly Joined AEW Collision In June
AEW Collision came onto the scene in June of 2023, and it was announced that Kevin Kelly would be the lead announcer on the Saturday night show. Continuing, Kelly opened up about how his Collision duties allow him to be nearer to his wife even when he has to travel.
“So, when this AEW opportunity came around, the first conversation that Tony and I had was about still keeping up on New Japan commitments and he said, ‘Yeah that’s fine, we’ll have Ian or somebody fill in.’ He and I figured it would probably be 12 dates a year and I talked to [my wife] about it, and she was like, I don’t want to be alone anymore. I was like, okay, say no more, that’s it.
“I talked to New Japan, I talked with Tony. I got these two [shows] that I definitely have to do for New Japan, but after that, I’m just going to be here in the states, here in North America within a couple hours flight. I’ll be gone away from home as much as AEW needs me, but I’ll always be that close. I’ll never be more than half of a day away.”
h/t Fightful
In a new update, NJPW has issued a statement regarding Kevin Kelly’s departure.